Christian “Chris” Madsen – One of the Three Guardmen

Chris Madsen

Christian “Chris” Madsen (1851–1944) – Born in Denmark, Madsen claimed to have been a soldier in the Danish Army before immigrating to the United States in 1876. Immediately, he enlisted in the U.S. Cavalry which soon put him in the midst of the various Indian Wars taking place on the plains. At the outbreak of the Spanish-American War, he joined Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders. After some 15 years in the military, Madsen left the army and went to works as a U.S. Deputy Marshal in Oklahoma in 1891. Working with Heck Thomas and Bill Tilghman, the three became known as the Three Guardsmen and were largely responsible for wiping out the lawlessness in Indian Territory.

Earning a reputation as a fighter who would never surrender, he was instrumental in hunting down Bill Doolin and the rest of his gang. During the First World War Madsen tried to enlist, once again, in the United States Army but was rejected as being too old. In his sixties he was appointed chief of police at Oklahoma City.

Christian Madsen died peacefully at the age of ninety-three in Guthrie, Oklahoma on January 9, 1944. Chris Madsen is buried in the Frisco Cemetery in Yukon, Oklahoma.